Johanne's Journal, 02 March 2017

I'm having significant kidney stones problems. What kindof dietary adjustments has your doctor suggested to address this issue? (And I'm glad you're back..) 

lithium orotate or 5-htp on Amazon have been great, gentle mood-supporters for me in times of stress.  

Happy you are here. Stef is here, too? Wow, that is great 

Hi, Johanne!! Glad to see you all of you!! 

Tomorrow will be a better day. 

Hi everyone. I'm so happy to see so many of our original group. We need Heather. The Dr. said to avoid soy, reduce salt, avoid oxalates, reduce animal protein and get at least 1200 mg calcium from dairy products, not supplements. Supplements cause build-up of plaque in coronary arteries. I plan to look up oxalate foods but here's a short list I found. I know coffee, tea and chocolate are also on the list . . . basically, many of the healthy foods I shifted to. Reduce oxalate You may want to avoid these foods to help reduce the amount of oxalate in your urine: nuts and nut products peanuts, which are legumes rhubarb spinach wheat bran Talk with a health care professional about other food sources of oxalate and how much oxalate should be in what you eat, especially if you have had calcium oxalate stones. 

Apparently spinach, coffee and tea are the worst. I'm finding this to be very complicated. Turns out the low FODMAP diet for IBS is high oxalate, and so the combination of the diet and the dehydration caused by the IBS promotes kidney stones. So it's really hard. Please share any tips you come up with.  

I've been eating high oxylate, as well. It's all the healthy foods I've switched off to, including coffee for Alzheimer's and chocolate and wine for a healthy heart. I didn't drink them before. So, what now? I guess we'll be studying this maze, huh? 

Oh, and he suggested drinking lemon aid. I've made three 24 oz. bottles, today, using the juice of one whole lemon and three packets Truvia for each bottle with enough water and ice to fill the bottles. It's quite tasty. I'll find out how much you should actually have, daily. I'm sure you can have to much of a good thing, as usual. 

Hi Joanne, I'm sorry I missed commenting sooner. I hope you come back and tell us how you're doing. This site is so much more than weightloss. It's become like facebook only more private. I hope you're doing well. Updates please. 

Hi Is. My blood work, etc., came back showing me to be extremely healthy. .??? I was SO TIRED. About two weeks later, fever and extreme, all over pain hit. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I ended up in the emergency room and hilarity ensued. I had mono. 72 year old ladies with mono are a matter of much humor . . . to everyone else. I was so sick! The "blood clot" in my inner thigh that had turned out to be a swollen gland, the extreme exhaustion, the mental lethargy . . . all explained. It wasn't stress or depression or mental. It was quite real. I was so relieved to find out I wasn't losing my mind. Anyway, I'm still in recovery. My GP ran a much more comprehensive Epstein Barr panel, once we knew what had happened. It turns out, this was a flare-up. I've had it for years. No one ever checked for it before because, prior to my Celiacs diagnosis, I had been anemic and deadly tired, most of my life. I had upper respiratory infections my whole life. Now that my hemoglobin levels are in the normal range and I no longer have to have transfusions, my exhaustion was considered to be mental. The Dr called me, himself, with the news and discussed it with me. He has diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome due to the Epstein Barr. I'm still in recovery from the flare-up and sleeping a lot. I'm just now getting back to my eating plan. It's been a rough couple of months. Thanks so much for checking on me and for caring. 

Wow -- Johanne. What an adventure. Just FYI -- it doesn't help to add kidney stones to the mix. I had another kidney stone episode in February, and I found as I had last June that I was hit-by-a-truck exhausted for weeks... so I would imagine when you have Epstein Barr and Celiac and kidney stones, you must be barely able to move. Thinking about you and hoping you will soon begin to feel better. So sorry it's been so rough. 

Oh my dear friend I am sorry to hear you have been so ill BUT grateful that some idiot finally diagnosed you and you are hopefully getting proper treatment. Great that your GP called BUT I hope he apologized for missing your symptoms. You've felt like crap for far too long and made to feel like a silly old goose. The medical personnel just look at 'you' and see 'older lady' and that's the end of their caring. It happens to me too now that I'm 60 but I don't let them away with ANYTHING. Take care my dear friend. Come back as often as you are able to keep us updated. Be well. Hugs.